Container car



June 3, 1958 5. J. FRAENKEL 2,837,036

CONTAINER CAR Filed Feb. 14, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 S. J. FRAENKELCONTAINER CAR June 3, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 14, 1956IIIVVENTORL 52 hen JF/czeHkeZ,

/aiflm United States Patent CONTAINER CAR Stephen J. Fraenkel, Wilmette,1ll., assignor to Standard Railway Equipment Manufacturing Company,Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application February 14, 1956,Serial No. 565,364

3 Claims. (Cl. 105-366) This invention relates to a railway car, andmore particularly to a railway rolling stock in which a carrier mounts aplurality of containers.

Inthe recent past the piggy-back type of transportation'has becomeincreasingly popular. A plurality of containers, which may be loaded atthe consignor, are hauled by truck to the railway carrier and placedthereon for shipment to the destination, and then unloaded from thecarrier to a truck, if necessary, for delivery to the consignee. Varioustypes of railroad rolling stock have been proposed for hauling thesecontainers. In every known instance the containers have rested ondecking or other structure supported by an underframe.

It is a general object of the invention to provide a carrier forcontainers.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a failway car forcontainers in which the containers may be readily loaded and unloaded.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a carrier forthe containers which protects the containers and the lading againststresses and shocks when in transit on the railway, and particularly toafford protection in addition to the usual draft gear.

It is another object of the invention to provide a carrier forcontainers which eliminates side sills, cross-bearers, stringers, anddecking.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a railway carrierin which the ladiug is suspended in containers above its center ofgravity, and more specifically to a carrier in which the containers arehung so as to allow a certain amount of swinging movement.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide a carrier forcontainers which does not lower the safety factors in the railway carconstruction.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will become evident asthe description proceeds and from an examination of the accompanyingdrawings which illustrate several embodiments of the invention and inwhich similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the severalviews.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side view in elevation of a railway carrier with containerthereon, embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the device shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an end view of the device shown in Figure 1.

Figure 4 is an alternative form of railway car and containers thereonembodying the invention.

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the device shown in Figure 4.

Figure 6 is an end view of the device shown in Figure 4.

Referring now to the drawings, the reference numeral 10 indicates acarrier for shipping containers. The carrier has the usual car trucks 11provided with truck bolsters 12. A center sill 15 extends longitudinallybetween the car trucks and is supported by the bolsters thereon.

A suspension structure 16 in the form of an A-frame in a vertical planeis rigidly connected to the center sill ICE 15 with the ends 17 of theframe fixed in invarying angular relationship thereto substantiallyabove the truck bolsters 12. A center supporting post 19 at the middleof the A-frame rests on the center sill to provide added support for thesuspension structure. The A-vframe is formed of an I-beam comprising anhorizontal beam 21 and two end supporting posts 20. The posts aresecured to the center sill so that the frame and center sill form arigid truss. A plurality of containers 30 are suspended from the beam 21by a suitable latching mechanism, such as hooks 31 carried by the beamand eyes 32 on the containers. 1

It will be seen that by supporting the containers from a single pointfrom the horizontal beam 21 of the A- frame movement of the containersis permitted about an axis transverse to the longitudinal axis of thecarrier in response to longitudinal impact. This arrangement utilizesgravity to oppose the motion induced by such impacts. The use ofgravitational resistance of the lading decreases the requirement forphysical spring resistance, such as is employed in the draft gear. It isfurther pos sible to provide intentional friction resistance to suchmovement or rotation and to provide damping through energy absorptiondevices.

Movement of the containers about the longitudinal axis of the carrierpermits the containers to adjust themselves to the inclinationcorresponding to the force components associated with weight andcentrifugal force which arise during travel on a curved track. Thesuspension above the center of gravity of the container causes theresultant force on the point of suspension that would be normal to theplane of the superelevated track. This condition permits higher speedson curves than would be permissible with containers supported belowtheir center of gravity, such as at floorlevel, which would have atendency to separate from the floor and overturn.

Swinging movements of the containers may be restrained by springsfastened between the carrier and containers. Springs 33 may be fastenedbetween the containers and center sill. Springs 34 may be securedbetween the end containers and the end posts. Springs 35 may be mountedbetween the middle containers and center post, and springs 36 may befastened between adjacent containers.

The vertical force .component on the carrier, due to the dead weight ofthe container and contents thereof, is supported by the A-frame. TheA-frame rests in turn on the center sill, being mounted theretosubstantially at the intersection of the bolster. The end posts 20 ofthe A-frame may be vertical or inclined. The beam 21 of the frame isalso supported by a vertical center post 19 which rests in turn on thecenter sill. The total assemblage is a rigid frame or webless truss withmoment resisting joints of the Vierendeel type. This design utilizes thestrength of the center sill primarily, in addition to its usualfunction, as a lower chord of a truss, and permits a reduction ofstrength and material, as compared with a carrier beam freely spanningfrom end to end support. Thus a reduction in total material is achievedby replacing the usual boxcar sides, fish-belly side sills, etc., by asingle beam 21 in a truss, and by forc- The truss includes a 3 base legwhich may be the bolster 52 mounted on the center sill and two legs 63'which meet directly above the center sill 55 and are secured at theirlower ends to the bolster.

' A' number of'containersare fastened together at their ends by flanges73' to form a continuous beam. The

beam is supported on members 71 at its horizontal axis. In this way thecontainers are joinedtogether into an integral structure which supportsthecontainers and lad- It may 'be desirable to insert blocks 77 beneaththe containers so as to support them above the center sill, such as whenone of the containers is removed. These blocks conceivably could'bemounted: between the containers and center'sill.

In,the drawing and specification, there have. been set forth severalembodimentsofj the invention, and although specific terms areemployed,they are used in a generic and, descriptive sense only. and not forpurposes 0f 1imitation. Changes in forrnand in theproportion of parts,

as well as the substitution of equivalents are contemplated,

as circumstances may suggest or render expedient, withoutdepartingfrom,the spirit or scope of thisinvention as further, defined inthefollowing claims.

I claim:

1. In a railway car for transporting lading, a center sill extendingfrom end to end of said car, a frame having end columns rigidly fixed tothe center sill, a beam rigidly fixed to said end columns, said ladingbeing supported by the frame and oifset from the connections of theframe with the center sill;

2. The structure set forth in claim 1, wherein the center sill is thelower chord of said frame.

3. In a railway car, a center sill extending fromcnd to end of said car,an integral A-frame structuredisposed in a vertical plane and having endcolumns rigidly fixed to the centersill, the A-frame and the center sillcomprising an integral load carrying rigid frame.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS124,734 Gird Mar. 19 18 72 446,065 Henning -,Eeb. 10,1891 454,099Whitner Iune16; 1891 2,197,375 Dafnis Apr. 16,1940

